GlaxoSmithKline to purchase Rockville, Md.’s Human Genome Services

On Monday, biotechnology firm Human Genome Services announced it was to be acquired by London-based GlaxoSmithKline for $3.6 billion, reports the Baltimore Sun.

GlaxoSmithKline boosted its offer for Rockville-based Human Genome, which uses the human DNA sequence to develop targeted drugs, to $14.25 a share from the $13 it offered in April. . . .
The sale of Human Genome, which was founded in Maryland 20 years ago, is an important moment in the state’s biotechnology industry. Several biotechnology companies over the years have grown to the point where they’ve gone public or been acquired by competitors, including Rockville-based MedImmune, which AstraZeneca bought in 2007 for $15.2 billion. [more]

Human Genome Services, based in Rockville, Md., has worked with GlaxoSmithKline since 2006 on a new drug for treating lupus. In March 2011, the drug Benlysta was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Benlysta was the first new FDA-approved drug for lupus in more than 50 years, as well as the first FDA-approved drug Human Genome Services produced.